


here we are, no one else

by mapyourstars



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Express, M/M, Meet-Cute, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, cursed child who?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mapyourstars/pseuds/mapyourstars
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy meets Albus Potter on the Hogwarts Express.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Kudos: 50





	here we are, no one else

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theprodigypenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprodigypenguin/gifts).



> I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CURSED CHILD. i read it once and promptly erased it from my memory. i literally... want nothing to do with it. anyway, i also know NOTHING about scorpius or albus severus beyond my own headcanons. however, [theprodigypenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprodigypenguin) requested scorbus "meeting on a train ride au" (from [this ask meme](https://mapyourstars.tumblr.com/post/616061758665359360/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-write-a-short)) and this is what came to me in the shower. 
> 
> p.s. scorbus is adorable and i Support. this is just my first attempt. ;awojd;awjf NO SHADE TOWARD SCORBUS SHIPPERS, Y'ALL VALID, I'M JUST NEW HERE
> 
> this is unbetaed bc i'm living on the edge.
> 
>  **title:** from "we're going to be friends" by the white stripes

Scorpius Malfoy grows up with loving parents, loving grandmothers, and a cool older cousin. He grows up spoiled, pampered, doted upon, protected. He grows up with the solid knowledge that he is untouchable — and delicate. Fragile. His father keeps a watchful eye on him and is sometimes stricter than he means to be; he apologizes later with strokes to Scorpius’s hair and worry lines around his eyes. 

Scorpius Malfoy also grows up lonely. 

He isn’t allowed at the new primary school for magical children; he receives a fine education by one-on-one tutoring instead. And he doesn’t have siblings; a sibling is the one thing his parents have failed to procure for him. He doesn’t play sports — because who would he play with? 

He lacks a social education. 

He lacks tact.

He has never learned to filter his observations or thoughts, his parents and grandmothers all too happy to indulge him.

So, when he climbs aboard the Hogwarts Express for the first time, stomach in his throat and pulse hammering away in his ears, he doesn’t know how to handle James Potter throwing an arm around his shoulders and leading him farther into the train, rambling about life changing and growing up and the best years of his life—for someone who does his own share of rambling with people he’s comfortable with, Scorpius knows a load of twaddle when he hears it. 

They’ve only met twice, in accidental run-ins when he and his father had been leaving Gran and Teddy’s house, and the Potters had been arriving. And he hasn’t had experience with people (nearly) his own age being so friendly. So, Scorpius doesn’t know how to handle James’s attention and isn’t sure he likes it. 

He manages to shake James off when a few of James’s friends spot him and claim his focus. He hurries down the train, peeking into open compartment windows, looking for someplace empty or— honestly, empty would be best.

But the journey is loud and excited and energetic, and it’s setting his nerves on edge, so he throws himself into a semi-empty compartment and hopes for the best. 

The second he registers the familiar face, Scorpius blurts out, “Your brother’s obnoxious,” and then promptly claps a hand over his mouth. How rude, uncalled for, and hypocritically overly familiar. 

But Albus Potter looks at him with green eyes too large for his face for a long moment, and then laughs with his head thrown back. It’s such a laugh that Scorpius feels grounded and elated at once, and a bit dizzy for the combination. Though Albus says it isn’t necessary and that he quite agrees anyway, Scorpius apologizes for being rude and shares the macarons he made with Grandmother.

As the train rattles toward an ancient castle and they share sweets, they discuss the upcoming sorting ceremony. Scorpius mentions his family of Slytherins, and Albus sheepishly admits to his fears of Slytherin, his talk with his dad, and his own middle name. Eyes alight, Scorpius draws the connection between the name and his father’s godfather, the cantankerous portrait in his father’s lab. The portrait leads his busy mind to the other photographs his parents have of their friends, mostly Slytherins, and the stories they’ve both told Scorpius about their better times at school. The happiness he has witnessed himself when Aunt Daphne comes over, or Aunt Pansy and Uncle Blaise visit. Scorpius relives them all in rapid suggestion, eyes wide and hands gesturing with enthusiasm; he wants those sorts of connections for himself.

He doesn’t know if he helped change Albus’s mind about Slytherin, but when he cuts himself off, embarrassed that he has prattled away to a near-stranger, and Albus tells him to go on with a quiet intensity and an easy smile, Scorpius hopes with everything inside him that he ends up in the same house as Albus. 

It takes an observation from his father during the winter holidays for him to realize he isn’t lonely at all anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you tons for reading! you can cry with me in the following places:
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/mapyourstars) • [tumblr](https://mapyourstars.tumblr.com/) • [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/mapyourstars.doc/)
> 
> if you would like to reblog this on tumblr, the post can be found [here](https://mapyourstars.tumblr.com/post/619207273135374336/41-jeddy). thank you so much ;~;


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